Press Release by Hannah Hiles for Brilliant Bamboo.
A Stoke-on-Trent-based bamboo project has found a home on a disused patch of concrete in a supermarket car park where a major pottery factory once stood.
Brilliant Bamboo, led by Gemma Thomas, has signed a 10-year lease on an approximately one-acre plot on the edge of Sainsbury’s car park in Stoke, on land formerly occupied by the historic Minton factory, which became part of Royal Doulton in 1968.
The site – mostly concrete and gravel, scattered with pottery shards – had previously been earmarked for retail development, but has remained unused since Sainsbury’s acquired it in the early 2000s.
The aim is to use the ‘parklet’ to explore sustainability, creativity and the impact on the environment, including whether bamboo can improve air quality in an area which traditionally has had high levels of pollution.
Other plans for the prospective site include art, science, nature and physical activities for all ages, as well as developing environmentally positive projects that improve the land, remove carbon and support native biodiversity.
Gemma said: “It’s just a brilliant place to be based for the longer term. We’ve been looking for land for nine months and I was so excited when I stood on this spot – we even found a Minton tile embedded in the ground. It’s got real potential and history.”
Work has now begun to transform the site into the Brilliant Bamboo Brownfield Parklet – a sustainable community space created from repurposed materials and planted with bamboo in moveable planters.
More than 400 young bamboo plants – currently growing in pots on the Spode site in Stoke – will soon be moved onto the land.
The team is now exploring off-grid power solutions, such as solar, as well as access to water and composting toilets. The site will feature artwork and planters created in community workshops – from tiles and bamboo-fabric banners designed by young people in the YMCA’s Go project to contributions from local artists and makers.
A volunteering day is taking place on Wednesday, July 16, where people can help to clean up the land and gather the loose shards for future creative projects. One idea under development is a mosaic sign or artwork made from the pottery shards found on the site.
Other community events are planned for Saturday, August 9 – which will be Brilliant Bamboo’s second birthday – and Thursday, August 28.
Gemma said: “We’d love people to come down, help us tidy the space and be part of the story from the very start. There’s a real sense of care and creativity in this project, from reuse and recycling through to exploring how bamboo could work in post-industrial places like Stoke.”
Brilliant Bamboo is continuing to work with partners including Inc Architects and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to bring the vision to life. A local charity is planning to hold its staff away day on site, and future events will make use of the space for community gatherings, workshops and talks.
The parklet will be developed as part of the Stoke High Street Accelerator Green Space Project through Stoke-on-Trent City Council, with funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, regeneration and infrastructure at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “A lot of excellent work is going on in Stoke at the moment to regenerate and revitalise the town centre. We’re making great progress with our plans for the Spode site and we’ve recently secured government funding to transform the public area outside the library and market to make it more pedestrian friendly.
“This latest scheme by Brilliant Bamboo will build on these wider efforts to improve the look and feel of the town, and I am particularly pleased to see another brownfield site is being brought back into use through this scheme.”
To volunteer or find out more, email [email protected] or follow Brilliant Bamboo on social media. You can also support Brilliant Bamboo with a one-off or monthly donation here.
ENDS
Images:
- L to R Fadi Bobo (Brilliant Bamboo), Matthew Jones (Brilliant Bamboo), Gemma Thomas (Brilliant Bamboo), Peter Wilshaw (consultant), Matt Davies (Brilliant Bamboo), Liz Perry (Second Look Stoke), Sally Malkin (Brilliant Bamboo), Ayad Al- Ani (Brilliant Bamboo), Pete Herbert (PH Production Services), Susan Clarke (Brilliant Bamboo) and Sarah Bonam (Brilliant Bamboo) (credit Dan Southward)
- Brilliant Bamboo director Gemma Thomas with some of the bamboo plants on the site (credit Brilliant Bamboo)
- L to R Ayad Al-Ani, Fadi Bobo and Gemma Thomas of Brilliant Bamboo, with Kim Mountford and Dean Deakin of Inc Architects (credit Brilliant Bamboo)
Notes for editors
Formed in 2023 by Gemma Thomas, Brilliant Bamboo is a community interest company with a mission to bring together the arts, communities of North Staffordshire and professionals from across all sectors to explore growing, building and creating from bamboo.
The organisation grew out of a project run by Imagine Bamboo, Appetite and Arts Keele, which brought together artists, academics, architects, engineers and communities to grow, build and consider what next for bamboo in North Staffordshire, connected to an international community.